Testimony of Kirk Johnson

Vice President, Gas Engineering and Operations
Pacific Gas and Electric Company
Before the California Senate Energy, Utilities, and Communications Committee

Legislative Hearing on:
The San Bruno Explosion: Pipeline Safety in California
October 19, 2010

Panel IV. Gas Utility Maintenance and Inspection

Chairman Padilla, Chairman Leno, and members of the Committees. My name is Kirk Johnson and I am Vice President of Gas Operations at Pacific Gas and Electric Company or PG&E.  

This hearing is important for all Californians concerned about the safety of our natural gas system. PG&E thanks the Committee for inviting us to participate. Before taking your questions, let me briefly share our thoughts about the September 9th tragedy, what we are doing to help those affected, and what we are doing to ensure safety across our entire pipeline system.

In the early evening of September 9th a rupture occurred on PG&E’s natural gas transmission line 132, which runs through the Crestmoor Canyon neighborhood of San Bruno, California. Eight people lost their lives; many others were seriously injured. Thirty-seven homes were destroyed. Hundreds of households were forced to evacuate. The days since September 9th have been an ordeal for the San Bruno community. PG&E continues to work with the National Transportation Safety Board (the NTSB) and PG&E’s regulator, the California Public Utilities Commission (or the CPUC), to identify the root cause of this tragic event.

On behalf of myself, PG&E, and its 20,000 employees, I express our profoundest sympathy and sorrow to the families and people affected by this tragedy.

Helping the Community

In the weeks since the tragedy, we have been focused on making resources available to support San Bruno begin the recovery process.

Some of the steps we have taken include:

• Providing residents in the impacted area with immediate support in the form of housing, clothing and financial assistance, such as $1,000 pre-paid debit cards;
• Establishing the Rebuild San Bruno Fund of up to $100 million which is being used to provide both immediate and long-term support to San Bruno residents and the city for three primary purposes:

To provide direct emergency assistance, in the form of cash disbursements for immediate expenses not covered by insurance.

To ensure that residents are reimbursed for costs or losses that may not be covered by insurance.

To provide financial assistance to the City of San Bruno for certain costs it incurs as it responds to this accident and to rebuild or repair public infrastructure and facilities.

With regard to the Rebuild San Bruno Fund, PG&E provided San Bruno officials with an initial check for $3 million to help compensate the City for certain of its estimated expenses incurred to date.

We have also now distributed checks to hundreds of households, in the amounts of $15,000, $25,000, or $50,000 each, depending on the extent of damage the households experienced. Residents have not been asked to waive any potential claims in order to receive this assistance. We know there is a long road ahead. We continue to be committed to the people and community of San Bruno. We will do what’s right to help rebuild the community – and to help people rebuild their lives.

Immediate Actions Ensuring the Safety of Transmission Lines

Safety is the foundation of everything we do at PG&E. Following the events of September 9th, and with guidance from the CPUC, PG&E took immediate actions to ensure the safety of its transmission lines, including:

• We resurveyed all accessible areas of the major pipeline that serve the San Francisco Peninsula. We also reduced the operating pressure of our transmission lines serving the Peninsula by 20%.
• In addition to these efforts, we have been conducting aerial leak inspections of our entire natural gas transmission system. We have also begun ground leak survey of the entire gas transmission system beginning with highly populated areas.
• We publicly released detailed information about PG&E’s gas pipeline safety and maintenance practices, including some of the tools that we use in our engineering analyses and planning for future preventative maintenance work on transmission pipelines.
• We are also reviewing safety procedures concerning our natural gas system with first responders in various communities and providing those first responders with detailed maps to ensure they know where our facilities are located.

PG&E’s Continuing Commitment to Pipeline Safety

PG&E maintains approximately 6,700 miles of natural gas transmission lines, of which approximately 1021 miles are situated in High Consequence Areas (or HCAs) - Beginning in 2002, federal law required gas transmission pipeline operators to initiate a multi-year process of conducting base line integrity assessments of transmission lines in HCAs.

PG&E’s assessment, which is on track to be completed before the required December 17, 2012 completion date, is well under way. Through the end of August of this year, and pursuant to federal law, PG&E has performed baseline integrity management assessments on approximately 737 of its approximately 1021 HCA miles.

In performing these baseline integrity management assessments, PG&E utilizes each of the three federally-authorized assessment methods: In-line Inspections (also known as “Pigging”), Direct Assessment, and Pressure Testing.

• Through August, approximately 156 miles have been assessed using the in-line inspection method.
• Approximately 567 miles have been assessed using Direct Assessment.
• And approximately 14 miles have been assessed using pressure testing.

Maintenance program. Our maintenance program is designed to provide safe and reliable gas service. We employ a number of routine inspection tools to better understand the system’s integrity, including leak surveys, pipeline patrols and corrosion control inspections.

In 2009, PGE spent about 300,000 labor hours on transmission pipeline maintenance items.

Safety and Gas Leaks.

• PG&E provides immediate around the clock response to gas odor calls.
• All gas transmission pipelines are leak surveyed at least once every calendar year and not less than every 15 months,
• PG&E conducts inspections on the corrosion control systems 6 times a year
• We are also members of the Underground Service Alert (USA), dial 811, a one-call system that requires us to mark the location of our underground facilities within 48 hours of a request by an excavator and before any excavation may begin.
• PG&E monitors its pipeline system on a 24-hour basis at our Gas Control Center in San Francisco.

Release of NTSB Report and Pipeline 2020

Last week, on October 13, 2010, the NTSB released its preliminary report on the tragedy. A final report and a conclusive set of findings are likely months down the road. In the meantime, we will continue to do everything we can to cooperate and support the NTSB investigation.

That said, we are not going to wait for a final report to take what we believe are appropriate steps. Within this past week, PG&E announced an initiative to advance gas pipeline and facility safety throughout our service area and the nation. Pipeline 2020 is a new PG&E program to guide the utility’s efforts to strengthen its natural gas transmission system through a combination of targeted investments, research and development, improved processes and procedures, and tighter coordination with public agencies. The program will focus the company’s efforts on five major areas:

• FIRST Modernize Critical Pipeline Infrastructure
• SECOND Expand the Use of Automatic or Remotely Operated Shut-Off Valves
• THIRD Spur Development of Next-Generation Inspection Technologies –
• FORTH Develop Industry-Leading Practices
• FIFTH Enhance Public Safety Partnerships

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Pipeline 2020 is a step forward. There will be many others. We will continue to cooperate fully with the NTSB to investigate the causes of this tragedy and to learn from them. We will continue to cooperate with the PUC and the newly created Independent Review Panel to help ensure pipeline safety and prevent a recurrence of the September 9th tragedy. We continue to reach out to local communities and local officials and, as transparently as possible, communicate with them about pipeline safety, shut-off valve locations, and our emergency response plans. We view this hearing as an important part of this larger dialogue about how best PG&E and other utilities can ensure public safety.

Thank you for allowing me this time to open with my remarks. I welcome your questions.